Re: Last movie you watched
 

A series of adaptations of an individual novel, kind of interesting.

Point Blank- Existential, experimental, iconoclastic 1960s crime thriller in the mold of the then-popular French New Waves movies. Icy, odd, distant, and structurally fairly unusual, even today. Uses the novel's basic premise as the springboard for an odd tale about existential emptiness and revenge. Great performance from Lee Marvin, some stunning cinematography, and very stylish, moody direction. A touch dated, but an interesting curio of a time when American cinema was willing to fund more than blockbusters.

Payback- Directorial debut of screenwriter Brian Helgeland, recut by Mel Gibson's production company in an attempt to make it into Lethal Weapon 5, complete with Gibson's obligatory torture scene and eventually him taking on the whole mob and blowing stuff up. An odd blend of Helgeland's attempt at Stark's aesthetic and a recut by someone going in a completely different direction.

Payback: Straight Up: The Director's Cut- Though not quite as rough as the Westlake novel, Helgeland's original cut hews closer to the original. It's a small movie of a small tale, and works much better than Gibson's knowingly ridiculous cut and plays like a 70s crime thriller Helgeland wants to emulate, though without the existential underpinnings or rawness. Still pretty good for what it is, and probably the closes adaptation outside of Darwyn Cooke's graphic novel.

Full Contact- Though not officially an adaptation of The Hunter, it does have a similar setup. Chow Yun Fat stars in this version from director Ring Lam Ling-Tung, a brutally violet, viciously nihilistic tale of a double-crossed thief who then proceeds to kill his way to revenge. Shot with a sucker-punch visual style and full of grimy, disreputable people, with the unique energy you'll find only in Honk Kong Action Cinema of the period and nowhere else. Interesting, but kind of punishing and so brutal that you eventually run out of people to care about and sort of watch it like a car accident. The famous "bullet-cam" shots still have a certain novelty value.

Elsewhere...

The Crazies- George Romero's tale of infected humans and bureaucracy trying to contain a virus. Intelligent and interesting in the way it deconstruction bureaucracy and social breakdown, but its raw, low-budget quality means that time has been very unkind to it in places. Interesting, but flawed.

The Crazies- Breck Eisener's remake of the above, loses most of sociological clout and depth of the original, but works much better as a thriller, one crackerjack set piece after another, and nicely nihilistic tone and electric energy. If only there were a way to fall between the two.

...28 Days Later- Despite director Danny Boyle's usual hyperactive visual tics, this derivative but highly effective horror thriller is one of the better ones of recent years. Yes, I know "THEY'RE NOT ZOMBIES!" and the infected hew more closely to the infected of the above-mentioned Romero film, but the plot and feeling seem more like Dawn of the Dead, and the whole third act is basically stolen from Day of the Dead. That said, it's done well, there's a nice intelligence behind it, it's properly gory and viscerally frightening when it needs to be, with a nice human edge. Shot on interlaced digital video at 576i, probably in an attempt to call back to the grainy 16mm of yore.

28 Weeks Later- Though this one is shot on grainy Super 16 (And looks fantastic, it must be said.), this sequel aims more broadly. I'm not sure what its budget was, but I bet it was significantly higher than its predecessor. There are lot more impressive FX shots and a much bigger scale, though still grounded, at least nominally, in human drama. Said human drama isn't quite as effective this time around, but it's a nice backbone for the super-bloody thrills which build to splattery bloodbath finale, ending in a cruel apocalyptic joke. Selfishness has a way of coming back to haunt you, and interventionism is scarier than you bargain for.

Re: Last movie you watched
 

^^^ Jesus, you really need to go back to school and study film/TV instead of pushing shopping carts.

I already went once, but my life has floundered directionless for so long, maybe I do need to go back. I've made such a mess sitting on my ass like millennials do. God, I have to figure something out.

Sorry. In a long overdue contemplative mood.

Re: Last movie you watched
 

Obviously you love to watch movies and talk about them hence your detailed reviews. If that's a line of work that interests you, then you should seriously make an effort to get there. Like going back to school and studying TV/Film and getting a good internship (and possibly getting the hell out of Michigan) Stop wasting your time feeling sorry for yourself. Pushing shopping carts and working in retail isn't going to get you to where you really want to be.

Re: Last movie you watched
 

Last movies I saw:

Life Itself via Directv pay per view: Excellent

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes: Also very good.

Re: Last movie you watched
 

Heaven is for Real - 3/5

Re: Last movie you watched
 

Alien...still a suspenseful classic.

Re: Last movie you watched
 

Little Deaths - 3/5

British horror anthology of 3 twisted stories in which the interconnecting themes are sex and death. Pretty good acting and filmmaking technique for a low budget film. The first story which is more horror is IMO is the best while the others were ok. The second has more elements of sci-fi and the third is more psychological. Worth watching but it does have some moments that can be disturbing.

Re: Last movie you watched
 

TCM is running alot of James Garner movies. Just watched Darby's Rangers.

Yeah, I've just wasted so much time, I'm not sure where to pick up the pieces and go from here. Getting the hell out of here would probably be a good start. I should really find a therapist of some kind. Have to figure something out.

Anyway....

The Five Man Army- Middling Magnificent Seven knockoff Spaghetti Western from TV-bred director Don Taylor. There's a whole nearly wordless set piece which goes on for quite some time which might've been incredible in the hands of someone like Leone, but as it is, the film feel competent but unspectacular. The politics feel pretty half-hearted, and it doesn't get a lot of mileage out of the premise or the characters, including a silent samurai who's in the old west for God-knows what reason. Serviceable, but even as a cheap exploitation movie, could've been more fun.

Re: Last movie you watched
 

Hercules (2014)... yesterday.

Re: Last movie you watched
 

Twilight's Last Gleaming - 4.5/5

Edge of your seat thriller from Robert Aldrich about a former Air Force general who returns from Vietnam and tries to expose his government's dirty laundry. In order to silence him he is framed for a crime and sent to prison for life. He escapes from prison with three others and takes over a missile silo. If the government refuses to reveal secret files to the public about Vietnam he will launch the missiles to their intended targets. Angry 70's political thriller (they don't make them like this any more) with tight direction and marvelous use of split screen.

Re: Last movie you watched
 

Just watched Before Sunrise for the first time. Liked it, but the improvised dialogue was awkward at times. Will start Before Sunset tomorrow.

Re: Last movie you watched
 

<b>Guardians of the Galaxy</b>, which, for me, exceeded the hype.

Re: Last movie you watched
 

Sunshine A fantastic sci-fi movie starring Chris Evans and Cillian Murphy. Kind of goes of the rails in the last act but was enjoyable enough up to that point.

Re: Last movie you watched
 

Re: Last movie you watched
 

The Hunger - 4/5

Re: Last movie you watched
 

No boners from Catherine Deneuve & Susan Sarandon?

Re: Last movie you watched
 

Sarandon, not so much. Not a big fan of that boyish hair. Deneuve, I'd fuck her still, and even change her diaper after.

Re: Last movie you watched
 

Along with True Romance I consider it Tony Scott's best film.

Re: Last movie you watched
 

Yeah, I was very impressed with it. The Bauhaus didn't hurt either.

Re: Last movie you watched
 

Re: Last movie you watched
 

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i1...ps66064e56.jpg

This movie is so close to being perfect, but there are a couple of annoying problems that could have so easily been fixed. First, sped-up footage is never a good idea. There are only about 30 seconds of it here, but that's 30 seconds too much. It jumps out and distracts with its awfulness. Second, there's some amazingly bad editing in the climactic chase scene; at one point Max's tanker truck veers off the road and there's a jump cut to it cruising right along on the highway.

Other than that, it's golden. It's pretty slow going up until the third act, but once it hits, it's fucking relentless. The actors are perfect, the writing is perfect, the direction is perfect. It's just the editor who needed a smack.

Re: Last movie you watched
 

Hanger (2009)

Has all the gore & tastelessness we come to expect from Ryan Nicholson. The pacing though is absolutely grueling and this would have benefited greatly by being a short film.

Torched (2004)

Nutty way to spend 45 minutes. Has some of Ryan Nicholson's best gore gags to date, which is funny seeing as it was his first film.

Re: Last movie you watched
 

Sharknado 2: The Second One (2014)

1st & final acts were hilarious. Everything else in-between? Not so much. I'm surprised at how many random 'celebrities' they got to pop in this film.